pridkett
Registered
I just moved up to the area east of Hartford and noticed there's a handful of lakes (Coventry, Crystal, Columbia, Andover, Bolton) in the area. While exploring dive shops I mentioned that I might want to hop into some of these lakes (particularly Coventry, Crystal, and Bolton, which have public access) and was told that you can't dive in most of the lakes. I'm trying to figure out if the person was just misinformed, or if there was something more out there that I needed to see.
I've tried my google-fu and found the following text from the 2013 Connecticut Boaters Guide:
This is consistent with the law I found searching the state statutes which indicates that divers need to stay within 50' of their flag.
So, is there someplace easy to find additional SCUBA restrictions on the lakes around Hartford? The DEEP page on Coventry Lake doesn't mention anything about diving and while the DEEP page on Crystal Lake lists all sorts of restrictions on activity, again SCUBA isn't mentioned. I'm hoping the guy at the dive shop was just misinformed.
I've tried my google-fu and found the following text from the 2013 Connecticut Boaters Guide:
In Connecticut, anyone involved in underwater swimming or diving is required to display a clearly visible red flag with a white diagonal stripe. The flag must be two-sided, not less than 13 inches high and 15 inches long. The white diagonal stripe must be reflectorized if the flag is to be used at night. It is extremely dangerous and a violation of the law for a diver to surface or swim more than 50 feet from this flag. No more than four divers may use the same diver flag unless it is displayed from a boat, in which case the number of divers must be limited to the legal capacity of the boat.
The blue/white ALPHA flag is also used to show underwater operations from a vessel in federal waters. it may be used in addition to the states diver down flag. it is illegal to snorkel or SCUBA dive from a state boat launch. Boaters must not come within 100 ft. of the dive flag.
This is consistent with the law I found searching the state statutes which indicates that divers need to stay within 50' of their flag.
So, is there someplace easy to find additional SCUBA restrictions on the lakes around Hartford? The DEEP page on Coventry Lake doesn't mention anything about diving and while the DEEP page on Crystal Lake lists all sorts of restrictions on activity, again SCUBA isn't mentioned. I'm hoping the guy at the dive shop was just misinformed.